Parcells: A Football Life (2024)

Have the utmost respect for Parcells. Listening to his former players it is clearly evident how much he has impacted their lives, both inside and outside of football. Also, every observer of this coach knows that every uttered word from his mouth is purposeful, many have remarked on his uncanny ability to find people's buttons and relate to each individual differently. Think how observant and insightful one has to be to be able to do that... his Parcells-isms are legendary and it was interesting to learn about the infrastructure of beliefs and worldview that he operates from. I read it in 2-3 days and learned a lot from him about life in general, just as i had expected. It was funny to read about things such as how he kept the temperature of the training rooms at 55 degrees in order to discourage players from congregating there and how much the top coaches today: Bill Belichek, Sean Payton, Tom Coughlin employ the things that they've seen Parcells do.

Years ago when my son was rather young I would take him to Farleigh Dickinson University’s Madison, New Jersey campus to watch the New York Giants pre-season training camp. I told him that any words that he would hear that his mother might not approve of were to be forgotten and never repeated, at least not in her presence. As an avid Giants fan going back to the glory days of Charley Conerly, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, and Andy Robustelli I took great pleasure in sharing my passion for “Big Blue.” During one of our visits the Giants coach, Bill Parcells was especially sarcastic in his own inimitable fashion as he joked with the likes of Lawrence Taylor, Phil Simms, and Mark Bavaro. The expletives flowed, but what we witnessed was the work of a master motivator who, despite some unorthodox methods, knew how to get the best out of his players. I am avid follower of sports, but I like to look at it from a historical perspective. Many sports books, particularly, biographies come down to hagiography and statistics, which I find unacceptable. The new biography, PARCELLS: A FOOTBALL LIFE by Bill Parcells and Nunyo Demasio is an interesting blend of football statistics, but also an in depth study of one of football’s greatest coaches. We see a man with all of his foibles apart from his successes, in addition to his large ego, but also a strong sense of contrition as his life evolved.

Charles Parcells, Bill’s father was a northern New Jersey sports legend who was a loving father, but a strict task master. His mother, Ida was a traditional Italian woman who maintained a warm home, and usually contained her forceful personality. Bill was more of a baseball player than a football player during his youth, but he would grow interested in the sport as it was seen as a ticket into college. He was a lineman/linebacker at Wichita State University and was even drafted by the Detroit Lions. While in college he met his wife Judy and by the time he obtained his first job, at Hastings College in Nebraska, they had a daughter and another child on the way.

Parcells coaching career would keep him out of the state he loved, New Jersey, for almost twenty years. His career path as an assistant coach would take him back to Wichita State, to West Point, Florida State, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Air Force, the New York Giants, and the New England Patriots. Along the way he met and grew close with a number of mentors that included; Bobby Knight, the irascible basketball coach, and Al Davis, a Brooklynite to the core and long time owner and coach of the Oakland Raiders. Throughout his journey before he became a head coach Parcells, who possessed his own rather large ego, was willing to learn from others and adapt if it would contribute to making him a better coach and improve his players. Finally, he would achieve his goal of being a head coach, being hired by the New York Giants in 1983. When Parcells arrived he found the likes of Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, and a quarterback named Phil Simms who as yet had not found himself on hand.

For me the Parcells era with the Giants was wonderful. With visits to training camp I felt I had a special relationship with the team. Parcells banter at press conferences reflected a moody, sarcastic, but sincere individual. He drove his coaches and players to distraction to the point that Simms came into his office at one point and demanded that he be traded. The book does a superb job describing Parcells coaching methods and philosophy, particularly how he interacted with the players on a number of levels. For example, he was quite aware that a number of players had drug issues especially Lawrence Taylor. Parcells worked with these players to overcome their problems, set up a team drug policy at a time the NFL did not have one, and a vast majority of players who worked under Parcells state that the most important thing he did for them was make them into men and accomplish things they thought they would never be able to achieve. In January, 1987 the Giants won their first Super Bowl under Parcells, a game that has special meaning for me as I was in Brussels that weekend accompanying twenty high school students on a Model United Nations competition at the Hague. When I arrived the first thing I asked the attendant at the hotel desk was where I could watch the game. I was told 150 miles from the city (I think he thought I was referring to soccer!). Distraught, I called the American Embassy and explained my predicament. The desk sergeant was from Long Island and he agreed to send transportation for myself and my students to NATO Support Headquarters to watch the game with American troops if I promised to send him a VCR copy of the game when I returned home. A deal was struck; we convoyed to Headquarters and watched the game with American troops until 4:00 am. I was never prouder to be an American and a Giants fan when they beat Denver 39-20.

Parcells would win another Super Bowl in 1991 against Buffalo and the odyssey that is Bill Parcells would continue. To the authors credit they mince no words in describing Parcell’s vagabond approach to his career. Parcell’s ego needs total control in any job and it led to his departure from the Giants and his eventual arrival in New England. Throughout this process we witness the growing “bromance” between Parcells and Bill Belichick who was taken under “the Tuna’s” wing as he helped develop him into one of the greatest coaches in football history. Parcells stay in New England ran into the same control issues with its owner Robert Kraft, whose own sense of self was equal to that of Parcells. An interesting part of the narrative is the description of the Parcells-Kraft relationship, and neither man comes out very positively. The question for the two of them was whose ego was larger; the shrewd owner who wanted total control of his organization to maximize his monetary gain, or a coach who wanted almost total control of the football component of the team. Despite Parcells football divorce from the Patriots, he did make them relevant and laid the foundation for the most successful football franchise in the 21st century. Parcell’s approach to coaching is very simple as he put it, “if you’re going to cook the meal, they ought to let you shop for the groceries.” (269)

The list of coaches that Parcells trained is remarkable and many became successful head coaches in their own right. After leaving New England Parcells wound up back in New Jersey with the New York Jets where he was successful once again in turning around another franchise. After the death of its owner Leon Hess, who Parcells worked with well, he moved on to the Dallas Cowboys after a stint as an analyst on ESPN. With the bombastic Jerry Jones, the owner of the Cowboys we see a mellower Parcells in dealing with ownership, but the same overbearing approach on the field. Following his stay in Dallas, Parcells concluded his career in the front office of the Miami Dolphins. The book delves a great deal into Parcells private life. His meandering career played havoc with his 40 year marriage which collapsed due to his infidelity. In addition, he was an absentee father to his three children as he became more of a parent to his players. We witness a man who faces his mortality with intricate heart surgery. Lastly, we are exposed to Parcells inner thoughts as he reviews his life decisions and takes the blame for many of mistakes he has made.

To Parcells’ credit he did try and right many of the wrongs he felt guilty about as he made peace with certain colleagues and apologies to family members. However, no matter what we think of Bill Parcells as a person, no one can minimize the impact he had and how integral he was to the history of the NFL during his long tenure. To his credit he fathered an amazing coaching tree that includes the like of Bill Belichick, Sean Peyton, and Tom Coughlin, between them there are six super bowl rings. Some would argue that Parcells receives too much credit for his success and that his legacy should be that of a “franchise hopping, Hamlet like resignations” dominating. Having watched Parcells since 1980, I believe that this biography is mostly objective and if you want to enjoy a stroll down memory lane and relive many of the NFL highlights of the last forty years you should pick up a copy of PARCELLS: A FOOTBALL LIFE.

Really great biography of Bill Parcells. Parcells is nominally the author, though it is clear that the co-author did the writing with significant collaboration from Parcells. The stories of his early life, unlike many other biographies, was interesting and well-written. Tracking his coaching life and his aphorisms as he became the Big Tuna were also interesting, and even the game recaps were appropriate. Parcells definitely reveals his opinion and thinking on his professional and personal life in this work. As a Washington fan growing up, Parcells was someone I rooted against, but it was truly insightful to read about this coaching legend.

Just happened upon this book at the library one day and decided to read it. Found it worth the read. This memoir/autobiography provides the life story of one the more successful head coaches in NFL history. Unlike most modern autobiographical/memoir type works, this book starts right at the beginning, discussing the origins of his family and his early childhood (as opposed to highlighting some key event at the start of the book at Chapter 1 and then discussing the back story in Chapter 2). Parcells' family and upbringing, like so many others, played a major role in setting the foundation for his future profession and leadership style. He bounced around many jobs at the college level before getting picked up by the NY Giants and starting down the path of NFL immortality. His style mirrors many other successful coaches, particularly Lombardi. While came to be known as a rough, yelling taskmaster, the key to his success, like Lombardi, was the ability get to know and learn the psychological make up of his players, tailoring his coaching to bring out the best performance in players. While Parcells often was known for playing a certain style (tough, conservative power offense with a fierce defense and good special teams), he was not so inflexible as to alter his style and methods to fit the available talents (the emphasis on the passing offense in New England, going with a 4-3 defense in Dallas when they didn't have the personnel to run his favored 3-4 defense). He generally out-performed his predecessors at every stop, even if he didn't always win the championship. Also, his style of coaching inspired loyalty in players, and many who excelled for Parcells on one team followed him to another. Many current coaches and assistants in the NFL link back to Parcells, especially Bill Belicheck. Yet, Parcells had his flaws. Much like Walter Payton, Parcells did so much for others, but left his family in the background. He was not a faithful husband or active father, but he does not make excuses for it. Still, for any football fan, this bio is worth the read. Even for the non-football fan, to understand one of the key personalities in the modern game of football, this book is a great, if somewhat long, resource.

This would've been a better book if it was trimmed by 150 pages. The reader doesn't need the life story of every bit player in Parcells life; at least limit it to a paragraph. Bit players combined with play by play recaps, that weren't even consistent, from numerous games was too much. This book could be so much better.

This is really interesting if you're a football fan. Parcells had amazing success as a coach and developing successful teams. Tim and I listened to the audio version which is extremely long. The narration is just ok.

Great read, really enjoyed this book, compelling introspective and insightful.

Still a dick.

One of the best biographies I’ve ever read. Very well done!

Bill Parcells is nothing if not prolific. He's written more books than most writers while still finding the time to put together a Hall of Fame career as a football coach.

The latest example of this is "Parcells," a sprawling autobiography of sorts that covers more than 500 pages. It's a football life that still has the ability to fascinate, despite a variety of odd twists and turns.

Parcells' time in football started with the usual bouncing around the country. He was a good enough player to be drafted into the National Football League, but not good enough to play. So he turned to coaching. There he worked his way up the ladder, which means a lot of stops in a lot of different places.

Eventually, coaches are supposed to gain a little stability in their lives in terms of location, and Parcells appeared to have that with the New York Giants after becoming their head coach. He won two Super Bowl titles there, and it seemed as if he could buy, and not rent, after several seasons there. But factors ranging from health to financial insecurity pushed him out the door.

From there it was on to a variety of other stops, coaching the New England Patriots, New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys and running the operations of the Miami Dolphins over the years. There were plenty of other negotiations along the way as well, as he came close to joining a few other organizations as well. The effect was to make the coach something of a puzzle, as in "Why is he doing this now?" The stories of those switches are interesting, and Parcells admits now he could have handled some of those moves in a better way.

This publication follows a trend in sports books, the third-person autobiography. It's written in someone else's voice, although it clearly has plenty of input from Parcells himself. There is some other material from those who were part of Parcells' long ride over the years.

Does the format work? Reasonably well. However, it does create a little distance from the subject, Parcells, and the reader. Demasio certainly comes across as an admirer of Parcells here; Parcells might be tougher on himself than his collaborator. Plus there is a great deal of material here, as the number of pages suggests. Demasio probably could edited some sections of game descriptions over the years rather easily, losing a few dozen pages in the process. I also could have done without the constant references to "Big Blue" as a nickname for the Giants.

Still, there is plenty to enjoy here. Parcells-watchers say there isn't much bombshell material included, but that's fine. It's interesting when the anecdotes take the reader behind the scenes into the locker room or negotiation room. Parcells reached the status he did in football for a variety of reasons, and one of the biggest was that he was good at getting the most out of his players. They may not have liked him along the way, but they appreciated his efforts after the fact in most cases.

All of this came with a bit of a price, as Parcells says he was married to football. That led to divorce and a father who was never around for his children. He would have been much better off had he told his children that he loved them as often as he told Lawrence Taylor that he loved him. It's all part of the package.

Someone once said to a reporter who covered a Parcells-coached team that he was extremely lucky to spend a couple of hours a week with Parcells, just to see his intellect in action on a regular basis. Indeed, he's a fascinating individual. "Parcells" provides insight into why he was and is an interesting man, and why we're still drawn to him more than 25 years after his first championship.

(I received this book from "Blogging for Books" for free in return for this review.)

2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge #3: Your favorite prompt from a past PopSugar Reading Challenge - An audiobook (from the 2017 challenge)

If we're being honest, "an audiobook" isn't my favorite prompt from a past PopSugar challenge. It was just the easiest match to make.

"Our underlying goal was to chronicle the story of football over five decades, with mini-portraits of key characters, from Woody Hayes to Bill Walsh to Curtis Martin and more," Nunyo Demasio writes in his "Notes on Sources" that follows the book.

Like many other readers, I expected "Parcells: A Football Life" to concentrate solely on the Hall of Fame football coach. Instead, the book demonstrates that Parcells played a seminal role in the development of the modern game by telling us often about the moments that came before, during and after his career. For example, Parcells won't accept the New England Patriots' head coaching position before the reader is first told all about the Patriots' origins as an AFL franchise, the various stadiums the team played in before settling in Foxborough and their nearly yearly ups and downs prior to Parcells joining the NFL team in 1993.

This exhaustive portrait doesn't seem to include a lot of varnish, as Parcells talks candidly about his players' drug problems as well as his failings as a husband and a dad.

For those that stick with it, the final chapters include a dramatic in-person contract negotiation with Atlanta Falcons' owner Arthur Blank while Miami Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga is simultaneously courting Parcells through the coach's closest confidantes.

Previously in the 2019 PopSugar Reading Challenge:
#1: A book with two female authors
#2: A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction)

Really well-reseached and well-written book on the life of Bill Parcells. This book takes the reader on an epic journey, from Parcells' days as a kid all the way to his playing days in high school and college, through his numerous jobs with different colleges to his first head-coaching job with the New York Giants. If you're a fan of the Giants, this book is a must. The two Super Bowls he won with them, 1987 and 1991 are discussed very well in this book. So are his relationships with players such Lawerence Taylor, Harry Carson, Phil Simms, Mark Bavaro, etc. The reader then learns about Parcells coaching the New England Patriots and how he guided them to the 1997 Super Bowl. You learn about the coach's relationship with Drew Bledsoe, not only with the Patriots, but later when he joined him in Dallas. After the Patriots, there is a big section on his time with the New York Jets. As you do with the New England Patriots section of this book, you learn a lot about Curtis Martin and how he might be Parcell's favorite player of all time, if it's not Carson. You learn about players like Keshawyn Johnson as well. Up next is Parcells time with the Dallas Cowboys and how he meshed with owner Jerry Jones. Finally the reader learns about Parcells time as a consultant with the Miami Dolphins. Oh yeah, and you also learn a lot, a ton actually about his relationship with Bill Belicheck, his longtime assistant with numerous teams. Parcells isn't exactly the greatest person off the field of all time, he cheated on his wife and didn't spend enough time with his kids, but his days as a coach were exceptional and the author focuses more on that. It's a great book for fans of the NFL that grew up liking the league around 1980 through around 2000. Highly recommended.

I just . . . this isn't a football life. It's a petty airing of grievances. It is should have been a behind the scenes look at some of the greatest coaching sidelines ever, from a man with nothing left to prove and nothing left to lose. But apparently he does. The book argues that Parcells' preference for a 3-4 defense is the defining characteristic of the modern NFL (it isn't). He takes "responsibility" for all the bad and selfish things he's ever done, and then spends 5 more pages explaining why it wasn't really his fault, because the owner/player/coach/wife didn't really understand how competitive he is.
This is a childish book, not one of an elder statesman. Prior to starting the book, I told my girlfriend if there was anyone on the planet I'd like to have dinner with, it would be Parcells. Then I started reading the book and cussing it out every 5 minutes.
"Why are you still reading that," she asked me, while handing me a tissue.
"I'm looking for diamonds," I said, wiping away a tear. She patted me on the shoulder and said I understood. I am dave of wideright.com and I stand by this review.

I'm about halfway through. So far it's meeting expectations. It's very good. Nunyo Demasio used to write for the paper in my town, The Seattle Times, but he has the necessary skills to take on this larger task.

It's a long story -- 26 hours, I think, on audio books -- but it hasn't dragged at all.

Just a few nit-picky errors that I've found so far, but I point them out only because it's fun to try and find them along the way.

Pete Rozelle on one occasion is referred to as Peter Rozelle.

During description of the Rams overtime win at the Meadowlands in the playoffs following the 1989 season, they are referred to as "St. Louis" once. The move to St. Louis came a few years later; they were the Los Angeles Rams at the time.

The reader pronounces Bobby Hebert's name "He-Bert" instead of "A-Bear".

I'll weigh in later after I've completed this one, but it seems to be very good.

Thanks to Olivia for the wonderful Christmas gift! He's an interesting guy. Actively controlled and thought about every aspect of his life--from career to financial planning to family. Incredible, single-minded focus on coaching at the expense of his family. He appreciated family--at one point made an active choice to quit coaching for his family--but over the long run his focus seemed to be almost exclusively on football. He micromanaged with the logic that he was the one who was going to get fired if the team lost, so he was absolutely going to do what he thought were the right things to do to reduce his chances of losing. I like his philosophy that confrontation is good--it clears the air. I don't feel like I needed the details about his childhood adventures on the playground, but once you get past that minutiae it's a pretty entertaining book if you're a football fan and/or interested in studying highly successful people.

"You are what your record says you are."

This book is a real deal for football fans. And the "A Football Life" subtitle is perfect; like an episode of NFL Network's show transcribed into print and stretched over 500+ pages. All the important players in the coach's life, for better and worse, are covered and quoted. That said, fans of Bill Belichick will also appreciate this book, the Belichick-Parcells relationship is covered in detail from beginning to present day. Famous "Parcell-isms" quotes are included throughout, including insight on their origins.

The book also provides endless advice and lessons for anyone in or aspiring to be a manager, coach, or mentor. Kudos to Parcells for enabling this, and Nunyo Demaiso for his excellent blend of research, detail orientation, and narrative.

Amazing biography, well written. The best part, to me, was to see this man's inflection point: There was a clear moment that Bill understood unequivocally that he had to win to keep his job, his career. The entire book could be divided into before and after that moment. Seeing how he changed his behavior accordingly was fascinating and instructive.

The latter half of his career was spellbinding because of his inability to resist the siren call of coaching, and the details of his complicated relationship with his family. This book is amongst my favorite football biographies, along with Saban and The Education of a Coach. Interestingly, all three men have ties to one another.

4.5* This book documents the controversial coach’s extensive career both in college and the NFL. Although the subject cooperated with this book, there are plenty of unflattering anecdotes about the coach. But, in typical Parcells fashion of controlling the way information is dispensed, the negative stories about the coach contain his own thoughts and introspection. For me, Parcells is synonymous with football, along with Lombardi or protege Bill Belichick. If you are reading this book then you’re likely a football fan. If so, you will enjoy it.

It's rare for me to put a book down before finishing it but this was one of those times. It really dragged for me and I found the writing style really disjointed. I'm all for books that don't necessary flow linearly but this thing was all over the place with flashbacks and flashforwards that it couldn't hold my attention.

I was not a Parcells fan before reading this book and I am still not a Parcells fan. Don't get me wrong, the guy knows what he is doing when it comes to football, but his belligerent, arrogant, in the face style was not a good trait. The author wrote the book well and the writing was engaging. Maybe I would have liked the book better if i were a Dallas or New York Giants fan. One thumb up.

This is a nice, readable book journeying through Bill Parcells's journey to football's pantheon. It has the staples of good biography, describing the motor that propels successful people.

The most intriguing parts of this book are treatment of the ego clashes between Parcells and Robert Kraft as well the messy departure of Bill Belichick from the Jets to take his New England Job.

His life story is very interesting, but the book is not well written.
i found that it jumped all over the place, and very often did not flow.
i was glued to it because i was curious about the stories of his past - but at some points it seemed as though it was written by a high school kid.

Great insight into a Hall of Fame coach

A great easy-to-read book on a Hall of Fame coach. If you love football, you'll love this book. If you don't love football, but want to know what makes a person who is at the top of his profession tick, you'll love this book.

Fantastic account of the football career of one of the central characters on the NFL stage in the last 35 years. Warts and all account of an interesting man and what makes it better is that it adds to the stories and adds more about the people we already know about.

Great overview not only of Parcells' career but a history of the NFL during his time as a coach and administrator.

Decently informative. Rather blandly written, and fact checking could have been better, I found at least one error that I noticed. Nothing egregious, but still.

Yeah, like I learned anything from this book. If I had this much time, I could read every article written at the time, then have a 3 hour interview with Parcells and get this book done.

This is a great trip through the life of Coach Parcells. It's a charming and witty read.

A very well done book that left me not liking it's subject.

Great biography into the football legend. Let's you see him as a Coach as well as man in this great account of his trials and successes.